Evripidou Street near the Athens Central Market is home to several spice shops and fresh herb stores. We revisited the Athens Central Market a day before we left the city and made it a point to walk the length of Evripidou Street, for the herbs and for a meal… It was inspiring, to say the least. Colorful, fragrant, and simply a visual feast for the eyes, nose and tastebuds. Sun dried tomatoes, dried rose buds, citrus slices, cinnamon, lavender, etc. in bulk…
One of the shops was like a mini-nursery, carrying seedlings of all kinds of tomatoes, eggplants, and fragrant herbs like oregano, basil, rosemary, etc.
The herb store had LOTS of customers, and one gets the feeling that despite Athens being a large cosmopolitan city, lots of people still grow some herbs in pots, windowsills, rooftop and backyard gardens…
Massive garlands of dried chilli peppers, eggplant casings, etc. hung from the ceilings of stores and I can only imagine all of the spectacular dishes that would incorporate these incredible ingredients…
Sliced and dried oranges were an incredible sight and while I was told they were used in potpourri type mixes, I wonder if they are also used as flavorings for stews or other dishes…
Dried rose buds were abundant as well and I ended up buying some despite nary a clue how I was going to make use of them.
I wish we had more time to explore on this street and have a local explain what everything was for, but alas, time was running out and the trip to Athens was drawing to a end… Evripidou Street, definitely worth a visit for a foodie in Athens!
11 Responses
Hi not-so-anonymous-anymore MM,
Do you know if the dried items featured here are really sun-dried out in the open or are they put in dessicators or some kind of dryer? Did you see them laid out under the sun like our tinapa and daing?
dried roses? usually it makes a good cup of tea
What does dried eggplant casing get used for?
Oohlala, definitely my kind of market, I’d be squealing noisily with each new discovery. Thanks, MM, for sharing all your holiday delights.
all those dried spices look so beautiful and make me think about all those delicious dishes that i could be cooking with them!
hello from abacos… hmm looks like you discovered the place I love to bury my head into to smell all these fragrant stuff…..i cant think whats the eggplant casing for… will ask my greek friends.
I’m on a roll, comments-wise — I hope that’s okay. Just wanted to say how much your posts make me long for all this fabulous merchandise!
Meng’s right — the dried roses make for a lovely cup of tea (good for circulation and thus, the skin).
I was able to get a bag of them at tea and therapy in serendra (when they first opened). I found these little acetate boxes that fit just enough of them to make a cup of tea and gave them away with little gift box shaped chocolates (the mold is available at any cooking supply store) in tiny ring boxes on valentine’s day.
Wow! What a great post, MM. I can imagine being there and just taking in all the sights and scents of the spices. I love sun dried tomatoes!
thanks for sharing.
loved this post – i’m going there in a couple of months
thanks for the insight
i was there last week – the place looks as though it hasn’t changed – not even the decor!